Friday, August 4, 2017

Coming Soon: a Limited-Edition Bourbon for $22.99

My latest for The Whisky Wash is a brief history of Early Times (ET), a 157-year-old whiskey brand made and sold by Brown-Forman. In it, I write that ET is a price brand, not well-regarded by bourbon enthusiasts, so that "there are no limited releases" of Early Times.

I was wrong.

Brown-Forman today informed me that, in fact, a limited edition of Early Times will be hitting the shelves very shortly, as in yet this summer, and it will be bourbon, not 'Kentucky Whisky.' Early Times Bottled-In-Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky will be in select markets including Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Oregon at the suggested retail price of $22.99 for a 1-liter bottle.

The fact sheet for ET Bottled-in-Bond (BIB) says, "(BIB) standards introduced a new era of guaranteed quality within the spirits industry." That is not quite true. When the law was enacted, the federal government went to great pains to emphasize that Bottled-in-Bond did not guarantee quality. What it guaranteed was authenticity. It was America's first 'truth in labeling' law.
Although the Bottled-in-Bond Act became law in 1897, the heyday of BIB was the decades after WWII. Whiskey-making was curtailed because of wartime priorities, so fully-aged whiskey was in short supply when the war ended. BIB became known as 'the good stuff' because it was always at least four-years-old and 100° proof (50% ABV). The limited-edition Early Times BIB bourbon attempts to duplicate the brand's style from the 1940s.

The press materials note that DSP No. 354, home of ET, is the longest continuously-operating distillery under the same ownership in Kentucky. That is a mouthful, but Brown-Forman prides itself on the precise accuracy of its historical claims.

ET is also re-introducing its most famous proprietary cocktail, 'The Pussycat,' a twist on the whiskey sour that gets its sweetness from amaretto and orange juice instead of simple syrup. Back in the day, Brown-Forman even sold a powdered Pussycat mix.

Also notable is that the release will be in a one-liter bottle, rather than the more common 750 ml. This is a play for the bar trade, which prefers the liter size. Even though it is in a larger size, the suggested retail is a mere $22.99.

ET was a bourbon until 1983, when Brown-Forman converted it into a 'Kentucky Whisky.' To save money, they decided to do some of the aging (about 20 percent) in used barrels, disqualifying it as bourbon, which must be entirely aged in new, charred oak barrels. Because of the current bourbon boom, that may be a decision they now regret.

A few years ago they introduced a line extension, Early Times 354, that was bourbon, but it never caught fire and was discontinued. Although this is a limited edition, it may be another effort to get value-conscious bourbon drinkers interested in ET again. We'll see.

23 comments:

Richnimrod
said...

Hmmm, Under $23, BIB, Liter sized bottle? I'M IN!!As an unimportant aside, a great looking throw-back label to boot!Heck even if it's unimpressive Bourbon, it's one I'll add to the bar/shelf, and at least use for cocktails... perhaps a 'Pussycat'.

I have learned that the liter bottle is because they will be emphasizing on-premise (bars and restaurants) distribution, so it might be hard to find at retail. However, retailers in the states where it will be available should be able to order it for you.

Picked up a bottle in Kentucky last nite at Party Source. I did not realize it was 1L. Price was as u reported, very reasonable, which leads me to ask is the few dollars per bottle, if even that much ,worth the downgrade? I guess as you said Chuck they probably regret the decision now.I'm also interested in what you said about different stain of yeast for ET. How many different yeasts does Brown Forman use for all there expressions? (Woodford,OF,JD ETC) I know 4 Roses uses 5 different strains but I thought they were the exception and everyone else typically uses 1 proprietary strain.

I picked up a bottle of the new ET last night. This is pretty good stuff. If it does become a regular issue and remains available, it may join my Very Old Barton BIB at $16.95 as a table bourbon way underpriced for the relative quality it offers compared to "premium" stuff.

I guess I should have read your article in Whiskey Wash before replying with my questions. Good article, as usual, with all the historical background I love from your articles. Are you a regular contibutor there? If so I need to bookmark it.

"354 750ML $14.99 does not sell, omg what are we going to do with all these barrels? Oh I have idea, why don't we hold the remaining barrels till they are 4 years old and release them as BIB?"

Clever, but highly unlikely, I'd think. 354 was stopped three or four years ago, and given the volume of juice Brown-Forman moves annually, including the bourbon internationally, I don't think they'd bother playing silly games like that, especially not after that long a time. I also think, and Chuck can correct me on that if I'm wrong, but bonded bourbon has to be bonded from the start, all four years; you can't just take any 4-year bourbon and decide to bottle it at 100 proof as BIB.

I think most of the BIB requirements are pretty easy. . . The only two hard requirements are aging in the fed bonded warehouse, does it cost more to do so or are all the Brown Forman warehouse fed bonded? Then they just need to dump barrels from the same season, I am sure each barrel is tagged making this simple.

BIB. Made at one distillery during one season...etc. That one season, does it mean what it used to -Jan thru June and July thru Dec or is it obscured due to the fact that most distilleries shut down only when nessesary?